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Readers' Solutions

Almost everyone would love to live in a period home if they could afford the upkeep, and period properties require considerably more TLC to preserve their traditional elegance and character.
Planning ahead for colder winter months by arranging for refurbishment in the summer can considerably reduce costs. And the satisfaction of knowing you’ve... more

Want to learn how to be more self-reliant? Try baking your own bread or making your own cheese!
Not only can you reduce you shopping costs, but baking, cooking and preserving can be fun for the whole family, whilst teaching them new skills and more about localised food.
Here we have five easy recipes to create delicious, healthy, homemade foods.... more

I started building willow fence panels in 2009 when I retired from 20 years as a science teacher.
The design and techniques described here are therefore the result of six years of experimentation and evolution. The result is an attractive elegant product built to commission to the customer's spec. with infinite variations in colour, texture and... more

As a Herbalist, Spring brings a particular joy. Not only am I planning which medicinal herbs to start growing in my garden, but I am also out walking the fields and hedgerows looking for the first signs of Spring herbs.
Identifying wild plants is the key. Nothing gives me more pleasure than hearing of people who have been on my herb walks making... more

Candlelight Farm is a 1 ha property in Mundaring, which is about 30km east of Perth. Besides being like many clichés that it is a demonstration site for permaculture, the property is quite unique. We were fortunate enough to buy the property which had some unusual trees to begin with, bottle kurrajong, giant bamboo, Irish strawberry tree and many... more

I am a keen vegetable and herb grower, but also love to forage. Foraging is not only a useful add on but requires none of the investment of growing which can involve heart-breaking failures despite the gardener's very best efforts.
In the springtime, the hedgerows and fields abound with nutritious, cleansing leaves, all for free! Here in Cornwall... more

If you’re looking for new plants to add diversity and resilience to your kitchen garden, or even to help feed the world, then oca (Oxalis tuberosa) has a lot going for it. It’s grown and used in much the same way as potatoes, but doesn’t fall victim to the dreaded blight. The tubers are attractive, colourful and slightly wrinkled, and store well... more

Due to an increasingly serious need, we have decided to create an organization called Apple-holics Anonymous to deal with this addictive epidemic sweeping through the fruit growing networks of the world.
People are helpless to control their desire to plant more apple trees.
Here are the symptoms that are becoming very obvious and very rampant.... more

As an advocate for sustainable transport and an environmentally conscious consumer, I have long been fascinated by the humble bicycle and I am not alone. Sport England's Active People survey recently revealed that over two million adults in England now ride a bike every week, but what greener options are there for alternatives in a sea of... more

Coldest winter day and the sun heats my office. It is the little things in life that can make an ecological campaigner excited!
When I replaced my solar electric panels, I had hopes that over the year I would become a net exporter and carbon negative house again. My new solar array is a smallish 2.6kW system as that is all my small roof could take... more

I may cause a backlash here from far more experienced seed savers but I just save everything I can and that looks viable. If you have used an F1 variety there is no point as the majority will be sterile, but once you get into saving and swapping anything is possible. To make sure that you can save seed, try buying heritage varieties, or attend a... more

Polytunnels are wonderful structures and good value compared to greenhouses. Once erected they will be there for several years, so check out my tips before buying.
I have used polytunnels since 1983 when I bought three, each being 18×55 feet (5.5x17m). They served me well except that their 1in tubes were a little too thin for my exposed site; in a... more

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